Throughout the Years
by ourlaughingsouls
Summary: A story of how Cat and Jade's friendship develops, in Jade's POV, starting in kindergarden. Still debating if i should make them a couple when they get older... Oh and please review! Tell me what you like, what you don't like, just say something
1. Chapter 1

Throughout the Years

Chapter 1: Kindergarden

It was the first day of school. I was anything but excited, but then again I figured it was better than staying home with my mom and then listening to my parents fight when my dad got back from work. I walked into the kindergarden classroom in my ripped jeans, black baggy T-shirt, and black backpack. Yeah not your typical 4 year old girl attire. But I didn't really care, these clothes were more comfortable anyway (my mother had given up trying to make me wear anything girly by the time I was 3). As soon as I stepped through the door I was greeted by a woman with too much make up on and too big of a smile. To be honest she was kind of creeping me out.

"Why hello there what's your name?" she said with a bit too much enthusiasm for my liking.

I just stared at her for a second and muttered "jade".

"well it's very nice to meet you jade!" she said putting her hand on my shoulder. I hated it when people touched me. "my name is Miss Rose, how about you go hang up your backpack and then take a seat at any of those tables over there?" that creepy smile was still plastered on her face, I had the urge to kick her and run but I figured that would be a bad first impression.

"ok" I said shrugging her hand off of my shoulder. 'next time she touches me for that long I'm kicking her', I thought. After I hung up my backpack I looked around at the three round tables in the room. One had a fat blonde boy, a boy with brown hair and a red hat on, and an Indian boy with fluffly looking hair. The second table had a 3 girls at it. All three of them had pigtails, bows in their hair, and were dressed in fancy, frilly dresses. It disgusted me. The last table had just a tiny girl sitting by herself. Her hair was dark brown and slightly frizzy and she was wearing a bright red dress. Ugh. At least she didn't have bows or pigtails. As I studied her more closely I saw that she was just looking around the classroom smiling and she seemed to be... Was she talkig to herself? Or maybe she was singing. Wow.

I looked at the other two tables and figured I'd be best off sitting with the tiny girl. I walked over to her table, being sure not to make eye contact. I wasn't in the mood for talking.

"Hi!" good god, her voice was so high pitched and loud that I actually jumped a little in my chair. I quicky shook off the surprise on my face and replaced it with a look of boredom and annoyance.

"Hi" I said shortly, not even bothering to look at her.

"My name's Cat! What's yours?" ugh, and she talked qucikly.

"Jade", I said while giving her the most intimidating stare I could muster. It didn't phase her.

"Wow that's a really pretty name! Is that your full name? My full name's Catarina but a lot of people think that's a weird name so I just go by Cat. I think it's kinda cool to be called Cat cuz I loooovvveeee cats! But I'm allergic to them so I can't be near them" she then got a look of extreme sadness on her face. I honestly thought she was about to cry, but then she smiled and started right back up again."But that's ok cuz I can still look at them from far away! I have a lot of cat stuffed animals at my house, I also have a stuffed giraffe named Mr. Longneck. He's my fav-" she was cut off by Miss Rose. Thank god.

"Goodmorning boys and girls!"

"Goodmorning" the class echoed in unison, except for me of course.

"I am so excited to have you all in my class! This year is going to be great, I have so many fun things planned for us! We're going to do some coloring today! But first we should all introduce ourselves by telling everyone our name and one thing that we like to do. I'll start: my name is Miss Rose and I love to read. Ok let's see" she paused looking around the room. Her eyes landed on the fat blonde boy. "How about you go next?" she smiled that creepy smile. Ugh idk how I was gonna put up with this all year.

The fat boy stood up "Hi I'm Cody and I like to play xbox" Cody then stood for a moment and awkwardly sat down.

"Ok well nice to meet you Cody!" Miss Rose said. "your turn sweety" she said looking at the Indian boy.

He stood up with his arms crossed. Usually when people crossed their arms it was because they were self concious or had attitude. But somehow the Indian boy did it in such a way that showed neither of these things... Instead it almost looked kind of cool. "Uh hi my name's Beck and I like to watch tv." The 3 girls at the other table giggled when they heard this. Huh. Wow even back then they were all over him.

So from this little ice breaker thing I learned that the boy with the hat was named Sam and the three girls were named Maddie, Jessica, and Stacey. Then it was my turn.

I stood up and rolled my eyes "My name's Jade and I like to play with scissors" everyone looked a bit scared at that point. Ok so I know that may sound kind of strange but what I meant is I like to cut things up with scissors. Newspapers, magazines, leaves, anything... Ok I guess it still sounds strange but whatever.

"Uhh ok well thank you Jade" Miss Rose looked concerned. Great now she thinks I'm a freak. Well maybe this will keep her away from me.

"Hi!" I jumped at the sound of Cat's voice again, I didn't notice that she had stood up. "My name's Catarina but I go by-" then that girl named Jessica interupted her.

"Your name is Catarina? What type of name is that?" she looked at Cat like she was some type of alien. For some reason it bugged me a little. The other two girls mimicked Jessica.

Cat got really red and I could see her eyes start to form tears. Great, the last thing I needed was for my only table mate to be crying. I do not enjoy awkwardness.

"No no Jessica, Catarina's name is just different and unique" Miss Rose tried to resolve things.

"Well I think it's weird, just like her", said Jessica puttng emphasis on the "I". Her little minions backed her up with a bratty "yeeaahhh". Cat's face was now redder than Sam's hat, she just stood there looking down at her feet. I saw a tear fall down onto her shiny black shoes. Next thing I knew I was on my feet.

"Her nickname is Cat ok? If you had shut your stupid mouth and let her finish she would've told you that. And I don't see what's so weird about her name, just because yours is boring doesn't mean you have to make fun of hers"

"ok that's enough everyone!" I don't want you to get in trouble on your first day of school" Miss Rose looked at me and Jessica. "Now let Cat finish"

I sat down while Cat cheerfully finished her introduction, all traces of sadness gone from her face. This girl had some strong mood swings. I glanced up at jessica's table and saw her looking at me. She stuck her tongue out at me so I gave her my absolute meanest glare (I was scary even as a kindergardener). Eventually she looked away, defeated. Haha ya that's right b-

"Thanks" my thoughts were interupted.

I looked up at Cat. "what?"

"Thanks", she said again with a large grin on her face. "For telling Jessica to stop making fun of me."

"Oh. Yeah sure, whatever"

Miss Rose was passing out a picture of a little girl and a little boy playing catch in a park. I opened up the box of crayons that were on our table and started coloring. I listened to the chatter going on in the classroom while Cat and I colored in silence. I was fine with not talking but I could tell it was making her uncomfortable. I was in an alright mood so I decided to try and start a conversation.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Red!" she said grinning the huge smile of hers.

I should've known it was red. Her whole outfit was red, same as her backpack and lunchbox. I was surprised her hair wasn't red as well.

"Oh that's cool" i said trying not to sound as bored as I was. She didn't notice.

"Whats your favorite color?"

No one had really ever asked me what my favorite color was. In fact no one really ever asked me what my favorite anything was. My mom and dad didn't care too much about what I liked and tended to ignore me. But it didn't bother me, I had gotten use to it.

"I don't have one"

She stopped coloring and looked at me with complete disbelief. "You don't have a favorite color?"

"Uhh no"

"But everyone has a favorite color!"

"Not me"

She went back to coloring but did so while wearing a puzzled frown. After a minute or so she exclaimed, "Oh I know! I'll help you pick a favorite color!"

I really did not see why it was so important to have a favorite color but whatever, I didn't really care.

"Ok".

"Yay! Ok hmmm let me think..." she put on a serious thinking face and began stroking her chin as if she had a beard. I have to admit it was kind of funny and I giggled a bit. I quickly stopped myself though.

"Ah ha! Black! Your favorite color is black!"

I started to protest. I mean black was the second most plain color next to white. But then I thought about how most of my shirts were black, how my backpack was black, and how the shortest crayon in my crayon box was black.

"Ok"

My approval seemed to make Cat even happier, she gave me a cheerful grin and went back to coloring while humming some random tune.

So far I had learned 3 things at school:

1. I did not like Jessica

2. Cat was kind of... Strange, but she was alright

3. My favorite color was black


	2. Chapter 2

Throughout the Years

Chapter 2: Kindergarden

Miss Rose passed out three more pictures for us to color. One was a of a monkey hanging on a branch in a tree, one was of a crab on the beach, and one was of a cat playing with a ball of yarn. Cat colored all of her pictures with different shades of pink, orange, and yellow. They were so bright that I practically had to squint to look at them. Ugh.

Soon enough it was time for lunch so Miss Rose led us to the cafeteria. Thank goodness, I was ready to cease the growling in my stomach with a nice, quiet meal. The two tables that were reserved for our class were both already occupied. One table had the boys and the other had the girls (you know how little kids are, afraid of cooties and all that). I really didn't feel like talking to anyone, I guess you could say I was a bit of a loner, but I especially didn't want to talk to Jessica and her crew. They were a bunch of b-... Well they were a certain word that a kindergardner ought not to know. So anyways I decided to sit at the boys' table at the opposite end of where Beck, Sam, and Cody were. They didn't notice I was there, which was a good thing, so I dug right into my turkey sandwich. I had only taken one bite when I was startled and jumped in my seat.

"Hi!"said Cat. So much for a nice quiet lunch. "Oo is that turkey? I looovvveee turkey! My mom made me a ham sandwich" she paused for a second looking disappointed. "I don't like ham"

I sighed, "Wanna trade?"

Her eyes lit up "Yeah thanks!" she squealed as she handed me her sandwich.

"Yeah you're welcome", I said hoping that she might stop talking and focus on eating. It worked for about two minutes, which is how long it took her to demolish my sandwich. I never thought anyone so tiny could eat like that! She didn't even bite around where I had bitten (most little kids are completely grossed out by eating where someone else had already bitten).

"Wow that was really good!", she started talking, "Did your mom make that? She makes really good sandwiches if she did. My mom's a good cook too. One time I asked if I could help her make cookies but I accidently dropped them on the floor and burnt myself. Now I'm not allowed to-"

"Why are you here?" I asked bluntly, not being able to stand her rambling any longer.

She looked confused, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well I mean it's not like we're friends".

Cat looked surprised and hurt when I said this "O-oh..." she looked down at the table.

We sat in silence for a few minutes while I finished my lunch. It was starting to get awkward so I got up to throw away my trash (I wasn't planning on coming back) when Cat said my name softly.

"Jade?" her eyes were still focused down at the table.

I looked up at her in response.

"Um... Do you wanna be friends?"

I almost said no, I really did. But then I saw how timid and pleading she looked. Her eyes were just shooting out emotions that I didn't even know the names of yet. And I suppose she wasn't that bad. Sure she talked a lot and got excited at the slightest things but... I don't know, she wasn't too bad. She wanted to be my friends for one thing. That was a first, I'd never had a friend before. Not that I cared but... I guess it would be nice to have one.

"Sure"

The worry and suspense on her face were knocked away by the enormous grin she wore.

"Yay! We'll be best friends Jadey!" before I knew what was happening she had run around to my side of the table and smothered me in a hug.

"Don't call me that".

She giggled as she pulled away from the hug and gathered up our trash to throw away.

I smiled just a little bit.

(remember back when making friends was that simple? =] )

"You're it!" Cat giggled as she ran away. I chased after her to tag her back. I saw her run through a crowd of kids and then I lost sight of her. Her small size gave her the advantage of being able to run in between other kids, using them as an obsticle for the chaser. It was a pretty smart technique for someone who was always acting... well, slow. I stood where I was, scanning the playground for her. Hmm, I didn't see her by the slides, or the swings, or the tunnel... I turned to my right and looked over at the woods. The sight of a red dress sent me running towards the trees.

"Hehehehehe!" she was giddily laughing as she sped out of the woods. Why was she always smiling or laughing? Well, I guess this was kind of fun. I hadn't played tag with anyone for a while; not since my parents got divorced. I soon found myself giggling as hard as my new friend.

Finally Cat tired herself out and collapsed onto one of the swings, her belly on the seat, hands stretched out in front of her. Joining her, I sat down on the next swing and poked her back.

"Tag".

"Ok ok you win!" she said still catching her breath. "you beat me at tag but..." she got up and sat on the swing properly "I bet you can't swing higher than me!", she giggled again as she started pumping back and forth. I stared at her for a moment and then looked down at the mulch. She dug her feet in it to come to a stop.

"What's wrong? Didya give up already?"

"Well actually... I don't know how to swing".

"You don't?" amazement was thick in her voice

"No, I never learned h-"

"Well here I'll teach you!", Cat jumped up from her swing and got behind me.

"What are you d-"

She gave me a surprisingly strong push. "Ok now stick out your legs and lean back when you start to go up high!" I did as I was told and soon enough I was up in the air, eyes closed, and smiling.

"See Jade, now you can swing!"

"It feels like I'm flying!" It really was a pleasant sensation. I felt cool and weightless like I was in my own little world. Nothing could touch me, nothing could hurt me. There was only me, the wind on my skin, and Cat's tiny gentle hands pushing me farther and farther into my sanctuary.

And then I heard a whistle and heard Miss Rose calling us to come back inside, recess was over.

"Come on Jade, I'll race you to the door". Cat's perky voice brought me back to reality. Still smiling, I hopped off the swing and ran.

She beat me.


	3. Chapter 3

Throughout the Years

Chapter 3: Kindergarden

When we got back inside Miss Rose collected our pictures and told us she was going to read us a story. We sat down "criss cross applesauce" on the carpet in a circle while Miss Rose read us Green Eggs and Ham. I could feel Cat giggling at just about every sentence. It was kinda annoying, the book wasn't even funny! It was about a dude named Sam who didn't want to eat abnormally colored food. Hahaha. (Sarcasm)

After story time Miss Rose had us get our blankets from our cubbies and spread them out around the room for nap time. I HATE nap time. When my parents used to try and put me down for naps I'd run away and hide in small places where they couldn't get to me. Eventually they just gave up and let me be. Sometimes I wish I had just let them put me down for a nap, even if I had just pretended to be asleep. I remember them having arguments about me and my behavior. They would blame each other saying they couldn't control me. I feel like I'm probably the reason they got divorced.

So anyways I wasn't too excited about this nap thing. I walked next to Cat and spread my black blanket out. Her's was pink, purple, and green. Ew.

Miss Rose turned off the lights and put on a classical CD. I hate classical music. There was no way I was gonna just lay there listening to Mozart so I turned on my side to talk to Cat.

"Hey C-" I stopped myself, her eyes were closed and her breathing was deep and slow. Of all people I was sure Cat would be awake! She's always so hyper and talkative! Until now I wouldn'tve been able to picture her as a quiet and peaceful little girl. Her mouth twitched up into a smile as she exhaled deeply and shifted positions. I guess she was having a nice dream, I'd have to ask her about it later.

I sighed and turned onto my back. Now what was I supposed to do? Count the ceiling tiles? Well, there was nothing else to do so... 1, 2, 3, 4-

"Hi" a small whisper interupted my extremely entertaining activity. Hahaha, more sarcasm.

I flipped onto my stomach seeing the small Indian boy a few feet away, looking at me. What was his name again? Peck or something?

"Hi" I said after checking to make sure Miss Rose wasn't looking. She was sitting at her desk, nose burried in a book.

"My name's Beck. You're Jade, right?"

"Yeah" The fact that he remembered my name made me kind of happy... I don't know why, don't ask.

"Cool. I don't like naps, they're boring".

"I don't like them either, I'm not even sleepy".

"Wanna make stuff with play dough instead?"

"But they don't have any here".

Beck gave me a sly smile and reached into his jeans pocket. "That's why I brought these to school" he said pulling out two mini containers of play dough. They were green and black. "Which one do you want?" he asked me.

"The black one" I said, remembering my favorite color.

Beck handed me the black container. "What are you gonna make?"

Hmm... I didn't know. I never really made anything with play dough. Nothing I made ever turned out the way it was supposed to look, so at home I would just mix the colors together.

"I don't know. What are you gonna make?"

"A turtle" He seperated his green ball of play dough into two and began rolling one of the halves in his hand.

I watched Beck make his turtle for a little longer as I racked my brain for ideas. I don't know why but something about this kid just made me want to impress him. He was calm and seemed to simply radiate a cool atmosphere. Plus his turtle was turning out pretty nice, he was accenting its shell using a staple he found on the floor. Show off.

I looked around the room for some ideas. Our classroom was very colorful. Every wall had a giant bulletin board plastered with all sorts of posters. There was one of the alphabet, the color wheel, numbers 1-100, a world map, list of presidents, dinosaurs, a list of-

Wait a minute...

"I'm gonna make a dinosaur".

Beck's brow furrowed "But dinosaurs aren't black".

"You don't know that" I said, forming the t-rex's head.

"Yeah I do"

"No you don't"

"Yeah I do"

"Have you ever seen a dinosaur?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.

"W- well... No. But-"

"So then you don't know". I began to form my t-rex's tiny arms.

"Well you've never seen one either!" Beck whispered loudly.

"You don't know that".

"Yeah I do!" Beck spoke a bit too loudly this time, causing Miss Rose to look up from her desk. Beck and I quickly lowered our heads, closed our eyes, and breathed slowly, pretending to be asleep; a useful skill for kids of all ages. I peeked open one eye to see if she was still looking. She wasn't so I poked Beck.

"Don't talk so loud!" I whispered harshly.

Beck looked really annoyed and slightly embarrassed. It was a pretty enjoyable sight seeing someone seemingly so cool all flustered. "Well it's your fault for trying to make something that doesn't even exist".

"It's better than a boring old turtle".

"Turtles aren't boring. You're just too UNboring".

"That's not even a word!" I protested.

"You don't know that" he gave me a smile that said "Ha! I used your own phrase against you".

Oh so he wanted to play like that did he?

"Yeah I do" I said doing a mocking version of his voice. It was a pretty funny imitation and we both eneded up trying to smother our giggles with our hands.

Beck, who was still smiling, managed to stop laughing first. "I don't talk like that!"

I did the voice again "I don't talk like that!"

The rest of nap time went on like this with me and Beck arguing and giggling. Eventually Miss Rose turned the lights back on at around 12:00 and told us to get our backpacks. The first day of school was over (we were the AM kindergarden class which was from 9-12. PM was from 1-4).

I got up and handed Beck his play dough back. "Bring it again tomorrow".

"Kay", he said stuffing it back in his pocket. Just then Sam and Cody came over and started talking to him about some spider man tv special or something. I walked over to the cubbies to put back my blanket and get my backpack. I noticed a bright pink and red one two spots over from mine. It must've been Cat's. I grabbed it and walked over to where she was still curled up in a little ball, sleeping. Everyone else was awake and making plenty of noise.

I leaned over her "Cat wake up".

"Hmm?" her eye lids fluttered and she turned onto her back.

"Nap time's over", i said dropping her backpack on her stomach. She made a noise that sounded like "oof" and winced.

"Ouch Jade" she said sitting up and rubbing her tummy.

"Yeah, well come on. Get up."

She stood up and stretched, letting out a long yawn as she did so. "So how did you sleep?"

"Fine". I don't know why I didn't tell her about Beck. It wasn't a big deal or anything. I guess I was just being lazy.

"Did you have any dreams? I had the best dream! I was at the beach and there were dolphins EVERYWHERE! They were jumping in and out the water and one of them asked me to come swim with them! They were so nice too! One was named Charlotte and another was Fio-" suddenly Cat paused and got a funny look on her face. Her nose twitched and her mouth began to open.

"Cat?..."

"Achoo!" she sneezed right in my face.

"Ew Cat that's so gross!" I was wiping my face on my shirt.

"Oh I'm so sorry! When I wake up I always sneeze a lot! Sorry sorry!"

"Ugh, ew just cover your mouth next time. You're so weird."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I was taken aback by how offended she sounded. "N-nothing, just that not many people have to sneeze like that when they wake up".

"Oh. Ok!"

So Cat finished telling me about the rest of her dream until her mom came and picked her up. And that's how the whole rest of the year went. I'd come to school, sit next to Cat at our table while Miss Rose "taught" (all we really did was color, build things with blocks, and finger paint). Everyday at lunch I'd trade Cat my turkey sandwich for her ham, everyday at recess we'd play together whether it was tag, soccer, hide and seek, or just sitting on the swings and singing. Then at nap time I'd argue with Beck as I built stuff with his play dough. Once nap time was over I'd wake up Cat and listen to her tell me about her dreams until her mom came to pick her up (my dad was always late picking me up).

School wasn't so bad with Cat and Beck. I mean, it was actually kind of fun always having Cat there with her hyper perky self. Her rapidly changing thougts and emotions kept me on my toes, the day never got boring. By the time nap time came, I was looking forward to the small break from her. I know that sounds mean but I'm allowed to say that, she became my best friend. Besides, talking with Beck was fun. Teasing him was entertaining, but he would always find a way to turn the situation around and come up with some smart some back.

I found myself with tears in my eyes as I hugged Cat and waved goodbye to Beck on the last day of school.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Summer

Summer sucked. Now that school was over, I didn't have anywhere to go during the day. All I could do was keep the door to my room shut tight to try and keep the yelling out. I hated it when my parents fought. They would just yell and yell and yell and YELL. Sometimes, when they'd argue at night, I'd hide under the covers with my hands over my ears, eyes closed. Then when they would finally quiet down I still wouldn't come out from under the covers. I could still feel the tension. It was like their angry voices were monsters lurking in my closet. I was always scared that they were gonna jump out, but I was too afraid to get up and simply close my closet door. So i just stayed under the covers were i felt safe. Get what I mean? It's hard to put into words.

My mom was going to move out soon. My parents had been divorced for almost a year now, but my mom had had trouble finding somewhere to go. She was moving all the way to Arizona, I probably wasn't going to be seeing her very much anymore. I was going to be living with my dad, my mom said that she didn't want to make me move to a new school. But I knew that was just an excuse. I knew she didn't want me. I was just a reminder of her failed marrige.

On July 10th my mom loaded her suitcases into a taxi headed for the airport. My dad didn't even say bye, he just stayed inside watching golf. I walked outside onto our front porch. My mom waved bye and told me to be good as the taxi drove away. I waved back and then walked back inside.

I stood behind the couch for a moment before speaking to my father. "She's gone".

He grunted in response.

I walked up to my room, closed the door, and hid under the covers.

My dad was a business man, he still is. He was always talking on his cell phone with some important person about work. When he wasn't on the phone, it was either ringing or beeping or vibrating. It used to annoy the heck out of me, but eventually his noisy phone just turned into backround noise. Like the humming of a refridgerator or the tapping of rain.

One day I was sitting in the kitchen eating some grapes when I heard a phone ring. It wasn't my dad's usual AT&T ring tone though. I looked over in the living room to where my dad was sitting on the couch, computer in his lap, blue tooth in his ear. Figures.

Then I noticed the small cordless phone sitting on the counter. I had almost forgotten we had one, no one calls it. I got down from the bar stool and walked around to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Jade!"

I felt a bolt of joy at the familiar perky voice. "Cat?"

"Yup it's me!"

"Oh hi. How'd you get our number?"

"I don't know, my mom looked it up for me. Soooo guess what!"

"What?"

"No you have to guess!"

"Uhh... you got a dog?"

"Nope! Try again, you have two more chances!"

"Umm... You're not allergic to cats anymore?"

"Nope! It doesn't have to do with pets".

"Ok. Uhh... Um... Oh I don't know! Just tell me."

"No no no", she said in a sing songy voice, "you have to guess!"

"Why? I don't know! Just tell me", I repeated myself.

"Nope! Not until you guess one more time"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. She could be so annoying sometimes. "Um... You met Justin Bieber?"

"Nope! But that was close. Okay okay, so you want me to tell you?" I could practically feel her bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Yeah yeah just tell me already".

"My birthday's in a week!"

"Oh cool... Wait, how is your birthday similar to meeting Justin Bieber?"

"Um... Hmm I don't know. Well anyways I called to invite you to my party! It's next Saturday at 1:00. My mom said that you can spend the night if you want!"

She sure did sound excited about it... And ok I admit it, maybe I was kinda excited too.

"Oh cool", I said trying to hide the excitement in my voice "Hold on, I'll ask my dad if I can go".

"Kay kay!"

I put my hand over the reciever of the phone and ran over to my father.

"Dad! Guess what! My friend Cat from school is on the phone and her birthday is on Friday and she's having a sleepover party and wants me to go! Can I go? Please can dad? Please?" wow, I was starting to sound like Cat.

My dad looked up at me from his laptop with a very confused look on his face. I don't blame him. If my five year old border-line emo, quiet, and somewhat depressed daughter suddenly ran up to me smiling and squealing about some birthday party, I'd be a bit taken aback too.

"What?"

I sighed and then slowly repeated what I had just said.

"Oh. A birthday party huh? Sure yeah, you can go".

I jumped up and suealed. My dad looked at me like I had just spoken in French. I quickly recomposed myself.

"Kay cool. Thanks", I said walking back into the kitchen.

I put the phone back up to my ear, "Hey I'm back".

"What took you so long?", Cat's voice was so loud that I yanked it away from my face. "So can you come?"

"Yeah, I can spend the night too", I said using my "whatever, it's no big deal" tone.

"Yay! Jade this is gonna be so much fun! We can watch all of my Disney movies and have pillow fights and-" I heard someone talking in the backround. "Hey Jade I have to go, my mom has to call the police about my brother again".

What the? "Oh, um ok. Bye".

"Bye Jadey!", I started to tell her not to call me that but she had already hung up the phone.

I finished my grapes and went up to my room to brainstorm for gift ideas. What would I get her? She'd probably be happy with any gift I gave her, but I kinda wanted it to be special. She was my first friend and the only person who I felt like I could completely be myself around. With everyone else, I had like this wall I'd put up to protect myself from... from... Huh. I actually don't know what it is I was protecting myself from. I don't even know when I first put the walls up. All I know is that I was scared of something, all the time. But around Cat, I could come out from behind those walls and feel safe. I wanted to thank her for that somehow.

One week later I was walking up to Cat's front door with her gift in one hand and my overnight bag in the other.


End file.
